Tis the day before Mother's Day
by stacks.of.books
Summary: Slow burn from Thanksgiving to Labor Day. This is the 7th in the series. Uploaded once a month.


It was Saturday. She should have been sleeping in on Saturday. Instead Andy was making coffee and unpacking a few pastries before Cassidy and Caroline arrived. She closed her eyes and let her head softly fall against the wall. She shook her head before she yawned and roughly rubbed her fingers over her eyelids. She needed to shower. She yawned again. She didn't have time for a shower; she'd have to settle for washing her face and just tying her hair back.

.

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Andy left the kitchen and went into the bathroom. She looked tired. She had dinner with Miranda and the girls last night before she had to go back to the office to finish her article. In fact, it had been their 4th dinner together since Easter. They were definitely closer as friends. Friends if you ignored the way that Miranda's eyes softened as Andy chatted with the girls or how they both swayed towards one another when they said good night. Each dinner was wonderful, exhausting and heartbreaking, but wonderful never the less. Of course, Andy thought as she dried her face, it had nothing to do with why she was up so early on a Saturday.

No, she was up because two weeks before, the girls ambushed her at the door and begged for her help.

.

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Earlier…

It was 6 and Andy knew she had beaten Miranda to the townhouse. Sometimes public transportation was quicker. As she raised her hand to knock, the door flew open.

"Oh good, you're here," Cassidy exclaimed before she threw the door wide open.

"Your mother's on her…"

"Caroline," Cassidy yelled towards the stairs, interrupting Andy.

Andy took a step into the foyer, remove her coat and as she hung it in the closet, Caroline came running down the steps.

"Andy you have to help us," Caroline slid to stop next to her sister, who frantically nodded along.

"Hold on." Andy took a deep breath and shut the closet door. She looked over both girls. They didn't seem hurt nor did they seem upset, frantic, yes but not truly distressed. "Okay, slow down and tell me what you need."

"Right," Cassidy stepped closer and grabbed Andy by the wrist and led her up the stairs into the study while Caroline trailed behind them.

"Mother's Day is in a week," Cassidy began.

"And we were going to take mom out for breakfast," Caroline continued.

"At that place that does the eggs mom likes," Cassidy interrupted.

"But Amy said Brooklyn gave his mom a car," Caroline added.

"We can't get mom a car," Cassidy interjected.

"Stop," Andy walked over to the sofa, "One at a time and who is Brooklyn?"

"Brooklyn Beckham," answered Cassidy while the girls threw themselves on the two chairs facing the sofa.

"Right, of course," Andy felt like rolling her eyes. "Why does it matter what Brooklyn got his mother?"

"Well it doesn't but it's not really that great to just do something like breakfast when other parents get cars." Caroline nodded along as Cassidy explained.

"First I'm not sure that most kids get cars for their parents. Second, does your mother even drive and if she does, wouldn't she want to buy her own car?"

"Well, she does already have two cars in the garage, so maybe not a car. Maybe we should get her jewelry," Caroline offered as a solution.

"Again, I'm not sure that…"Andy stopped herself. She had made her mother a card and then included coupons for chores and for a dinner at Applebee's. Miranda would be caught dead in an Applebee's. But maybe something they made. "It should be something important to your mother, something about you all."

"Like what," Cassidy asked.

Andy ran her fingers through her hair, "I don't know. Was there anything special you used to do together?"

"I…" they all turned towards the door.

"Mom's home."

"Look, just think about what I said and you can email me. We'll think of something."

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That had been the start of never ending email strings. Andy really didn't mind. She had learned a lot about the girls and Miranda. Things like when Miranda first moved into the city, she lived at a four story walk up in East Village and when the girls were younger, Miranda didn't have a live in nanny on the weekends so she'd take the girls to meetings or showings around the city. Afterwards they'd walk around and Miranda would tell them stories about famous designers and architects that had been inspired by the city. Or they'd walk around small boutiques and little art galleries. As a treat they would go to a place called Zaragoza for cheap tacos and bottles of Mexican Pepsi, then go to the nearest park and eat while people watching. She'd take them all over the city in summer and to all the parks during autumn to watch the leaves fall. During the winter they'd ice skate and once they built snowmen in Central Park until their lips had gone blue and their fingertips tingled. There wasn't anywhere they didn't go. The more the girls shared, the more Andy wanted to know. It all ended though, around the time she met Stephan. Work got busier, Stephan started dating Miranda and staying over on weekends, then Cara was hired and that was the end of the walks. There just wasn't time for long walks, ice skating or cheap tacos. It made Andy sad to hear that but it did give them the perfect idea for a gift.

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After some back and forth, they decided that they'd go with the tried and true homemade card and dinner. In addition to the card and dinner, they had gathered every picture they could find from their walks and scanned them. Andy had assembled a book about their adventures, on each page the girls included stories about what they remembered about each picture. They included little drawings, both from when they were younger and a few they drew just for the book. Andy asked Nigel if he had pictures of the girls, which he did, since he has known them from birth. The girls' father even found a few of Miranda when she was younger. There was a particular picture of Miranda walking out the door with the girls in matching shorts that they got from their old nanny, which melted Andy's heart every time she looked at it. They added pictures of candid shots of them studying, playing the piano, hanging around the house, of them hanging off Miranda and one of all of them asleep with Patricia on the floor of the study.

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They were coming by today to pick it up and make sure everything was good. Tomorrow they would surprise Miranda and take her out for tacos and a walk and then out for dinner.

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Stepping out of the bathroom just as the doorbell rang, Andy sighed. It really wasn't that early but she had been up all night working. Plus she had been working on the book every night, sometimes all night throughout the last two weeks. Thank God she knew people who could rush print and bind a book. She swung the door open and was greeted by two grinning red-heads. She flashed a smile and let them in. "There's doughnuts and coffee in the kitchen."

"Did you get?"

"Did you look at it?"

They talked over one another as they each grabbed a doughnut.

"Yes and yes. I think it looks really good and you're mom's going to love it. Wash your hands and I'll give you the book. After all it would be a shame to ruin it with greasy fingers." Andy laughed as they both quickly washed their hands. She was really going to miss them when they went off to school. After all even though dinner at the townhouse was new, her relationship with them wasn't.

"Okay," Andy unboxed the book on the counter, "here it is."

They both carefully peeled back the wrapping around the book. "It's perfect," Caroline breathed out when she saw the cover. The book itself was bound in light cream leather. The pages were made of platine fibre rag and the cover was Archaic Idol by Mark Rothko, which the girls had remembered Miranda explaining in detail to them when they were 10. They were pretty sure it was one of her favorite paintings. They opened the book. Each page was filled with memories.

"I think this is better than a car, "Cassidy said quietly as they flipped through the pages smiling. Caroline nodded.

Andy smiled softly as she watched them. They were good kids.

"Thanks Andy." Caroline moved away from the counter as Cassidy rewrapped the book.

"Yeah thanks, we couldn't have done it without you." Cassidy chimed in.

"No problem," Andy yawned again.

"I think that's our cue. We should let you go back to sleep." Caroline tugged her sister towards the door.

"You don't have to go."

"Well, we actually have to. We have to study for finals next week." Cassidy tucked the book into her bag while she spoke.

"Finals, yeah I forgot. Of course. Good luck tomorrow and on your exams."

"Thanks Andy," they answered together before they let themselves out of the apartment.

Andy looked at the coffee pot and decided she'd rather go back to bed. She flipped it off and headed into her room.

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"So what do you think?" Cassidy asked her sister.

"About what?" Caroline didn't look up from her phone.

"About the crisis in the middle east, jeez, what do you think I mean?"

"Honestly, I have no idea." Caroline clicked her lock screen on and turned her attention towards her sister.

Cassidy huffed out an exasperated breath, "About Andy?"

"What about her?"

"It was really nice of her to help us." Cassidy waited for her twin to catch up.

"Yes but you knew she would when you asked?" Caroline turned towards the window of the cab. Traffic was actually moving. Must be because it was only 8 on a Saturday, she thought.

"Yeah but why?" Cassidy tried to get Caroline's attention.

"What do you mean why?"

"I just think that Andy did a lot for us and I think I know why," Cassidy said.

Caroline turned and focused her attention, "oh?"

"Yeah, I think she likes mom." Cassidy waited for Caroline's shocked expression. Instead she just looked bored.

"No, she doesn't."

"Yes, she does. Look, she comes to dinner every week," Cassidy starts counting off her reasons. "Mom always acts weird after she leaves and we've seen them at the door. That staring thing they do."

"Cassidy, Andy doesn't like mom. I mean, I'm sure she _likes_ her," Caroline stressed the word like, "but Andy is in love with mom. And I'm pretty sure mom is in love with her."

"What?"

"Yeah, for a few years now," Caroline saw the house and dug into her wallet for cab fare.

"But why aren't they together then?" Cassidy tried to wrap her head around it.

"I'm not sure. I mean, I suspect that mom is the reason."

The cab stopped and after she handed the fare to the driver Caroline exited the cab behind her sister.

"I still don't understand why they aren't together. Andy's the nicest person mom knows, plus she's good-looking and…"

Caroline cut off her sister. "You don't need to convince me. It's mom. I don't know why they're not together. I guess mom's been married a few times and she's older, plus her boss," she shrugged, "I'm sure she has a lot of reasons why she thinks she can't be with her."

Cassidy followed her sister into the house and up the stairs into her room. She sat and looked at her sister, who had begun to pull out her notes. "Why are you so calm about this?"

"Why wouldn't I be? Look I've known for a while and I guess" Caroline shrugged "if we were 12 I might be freaked out but we're adults and leaving for school. I just wish mom would take a chance on her but I don't think she will."

Alright then."

"Alright what? Are you going to get your notes?" Caroline asked.

"Yes is a minute. I think we should get mom and Andy together before we go off to school."

Caroline smoothed her fingers over her eyebrow. She knew she was going to regret this. "Do you have a plan?"

"Not yet, but we have 3 months. I'll think of something." Cassidy flashed Caroline a wide grin.

"Fine, but go get your notes or you won't be going off to school at all in the fall."

Cassidy left and Caroline hoped that this wouldn't back fire on them.


End file.
